A new study has found that people who suffer from migraines are more likely to have silent strokes.
Researchers discovered that people with migraine complaints have double the chances of ischemic silent brain infarction, or "silent stroke," compared to people who don't have migraines. Silent stroke is a brain injury triggered by a blood clot hindering blood flow to brain tissue that doesn't have any known symptoms and heightens the risk of future strokes.
Researchers from the University of Miami and Columbia University's Northern Manhattan Study (NOMAS) examined data from a handful of adults in New York City from varying ethnicities including African-Americans and Hispanics - backgrounds that are known to have a higher stroke risk. Forty-one percent of the participants were male with an average age of 71. The participants were divided into two groups: 104 people had a history of migraine while 442 did not. All of them underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans.
After thorough analysis of their brain scans, analysts observed that silent brain infarctions doubled in people who had migraines, even after considering other stroke risk factors. They did not see an increase in the volume of small blood vessel abnormalities, called white-matter hyperintensities, that have been associated with migraine in past studies. Migraines with aura, which cause changes in vision and other senses prior to the headache, were not common in study participants.
Teshamae Monteith, lead author of the stud, assistant professor of clinical neurology and chief of the Headache Division at the University of Miami Miller, clarified that migraine sufferers should not worry a lot about the results since the risk of silent stroke is low. But he encouraged those with migraines to still take necessary precautions.
"However, those with migraine and vascular risk factors may want to pay even greater attention to lifestyle changes that can reduce stroke risk, such as exercising and eating a low-fat diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables," Monteith said in a press release.
Further details of the study can be read on the May 15 issue of Stroke.